


Doctorin' the TARDIS

by Merfilly



Category: Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (2005), Sarah Jane Adventures
Genre: Ficlet Collection, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-08
Updated: 2016-01-08
Packaged: 2018-05-12 15:42:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5671357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All the Doctor and Companion ficlets</p>
            </blockquote>





	Doctorin' the TARDIS

Sarah Jane had thought her jumpiness long since behind her, but the sound of a rapid knocking on her door so quickly after Luke left had her breathing hard and only barely squelching a yip of surprise. She got up to go answer it, calming herself… only to have her breathing pick right back up to see who it was.

"Jo!"

The woman beamed happily as Sarah Jane greeted her, and then stepped in. "I hope you don't mind tha tI took you up on your invite."

"Of course not; come get settled at the table. I just put the kettle on." Sarah Jane did look down the street both ways before closing the door, just in case. "Luke's stepped out with his friends."

"Oh!" Jo laughed. "How is motherhood suiting?" Sarah Jane's quiet, proud smile was answer enough, and Jo returned it. "They are grand to watch grow and learn."

"Indeed." 

Once they both had tea in front of them, Sarah Jane looked at the other woman quizzically. "I am happy for the visit, but is there anything wrong?"

Jo shook her head. "No. I'd been shopping a town over, and decided 'I should go see Sarah, since I am this close'!" She sipped at her tea. "Wanted to gossip and see how you were doing, maybe share some… companionship?" Her eyes twinkled as she said the last word, and Sarah Jane was the one to laugh now.

"I think that sounds like a most enjoyable afternoon."

+++++

The Doctor pondered, yet again, what path was yet open to him. The Time War was upon them all, with galaxies spiraling into chaos or oblivion. He had no wish to be a warrior. He had meddled all he could to try and avert it. {He refused to think about that mission, where he had chosen to let them live, when they could have been ended with a well-placed set of explosions.} 

There should have been a way to avoid it all! In his long life and travels, he'd learned, time and again, that there was no hard and fast rule of good versus evil, like so many of his Companions believed. Yet, as this continued toward mutual extinction, he wondered. The Daleks were evil personified, as he'd never met one that had any reason to exist but to destroy. Yet, the Time Lords had been the bane of his existence so often, and were riddled through with lesser evils. Maybe it was just goodness that did not exist, or was constantly losing.

He pushed his thoughts away, and pushed the lever to dematerialize, no destination in mind this time. _She_ would choose this time, and he would hope it helped them find a better path.

+++++

"What must I do, how many ways must I show you that you are at the center of my thoughts?" Missy asked in a plaintive tone.

"Normally murderous one," the Doctor reminded her.

"But still the center!" she insisted, adding a pout. "We are still friends, and that is all there is to it!"

The Doctor had to shrug his shoulders and then nod. "We are something, Missy, and it began in friendship, yes." He then lifted his handcuffed hands. "Now if you do not mind, take these off of me!"

"Ooh, feisty… and here I had it on good authority you liked handcuffs." Missy smirked at him, and he had to count to ten in three sets of planetary languages, because he did not need the idea of Missy and River in cahoots or at odds! At least they were getting somewhere, he finally decided, when she freed his hands. "Together again," she crooned at him, before leading him into further misadventures.

+++++

Kate looked at the woman in front of her, still trying to reconcile the image in her mind, from all of her father's stories leading to this , to this woman who looked… normal. Not larger than life, Kate realized, which meant she was just like her father. Sarah Jane Smith was the kind of person who charged into the strange and unusual, then turned up to make tea on time.

"My name is Kate Stewart, Ms. Smith, and I believe my father called to arrange an interview?"

"So he did." Sarah Jane smiled and opened the door further, though the smile was polite and functionary at best. Once the other woman was in, and the door closed, Sarah Jane gestured to the couch and arm chair. "Please. If we are to discuss my travels, I prefer to be comfortable."

"I do have access to your file, but I am finding that I glean more context in direct interviews," Kate agreed, taking the offered seat. "As you seem to have been an assistant at a key time in the Doctor's evolution, I wish to be enlightened."

That brought a chuckle from Sarah Jane, and she settled in for a long talk.

+++++

Rose didn't often wander the TARDIS, but there was music. She let her ears lead her, until she found the source. She'd entered on the far side of a room, one lit softly with mock gaslights, and the music was big-band era. The Doctor was in the center of the room, dancing to the music. Every now and then, he'd stop, shake his head, and start over.

It was absolutely adorable, and made Rose feel a glow inside her heart, because this had to be for her, practicing for the date he'd promised her. Without making a sound, she slipped back the way she'd come, so his 'surprise' would be unspoiled.

+++++

Rory stood up on the catwalk in the control room, watching as Amy and River played a card game, both cheating and making wild accusations at each other about that fact.

There was a piece of him that reveled in seeing his wife and daughter being normal people, as if one hadn't been taken and raised into a woman capable of breaking them all in tiny pieces. Another piece, though, focused on that very fact. He looked at River and had a difficult time seeing her as _his_ child. He sometimes mourned the idea that none of this was the normal he'd seen for his life.

Amy's laughter floated up, and Rory let the negative float away. Maybe, like Amy had said, he'd been doomed away from normal just by being in her life. And if that was what it took to hear her laughter, he was more than fine with it.

+++++

There is a song. It caresses time itself, wrapping around the mad whirlwind. The flow and ripples reach ever outward, changing the universe little by little.

There is a river. It washes over that which is old, renewing it in passing. Nothing can stand unmoved by its course.

There is a box. It holds mysteries to unfold that are larger than itself. Within it, the conception of hope is brought.

There is adventure. Living, happily, in a single night sees new discoveries, made in joy between them.

Every night must end, every song ends, but sometimes it lives on anew.

+++++

Jenny smiled impishly at her mistress… no, not mistress, not employer… wife, and then dared to wriggle her fingers against her skirt. Vastra kept her attention seemingly on the client, but beneath the veil, Jenny could see the playfully scolding look. 

The client had such a boring case to present, but the Yard scarcely seemed to need them this winter, and it behooved them to make a fee soon. That didn't keep Jenny from being tempting, just out of the client's view. Strax, as often was the case, was oblivious to the flirting, and he'd likely be able to handle all of the legwork for the case.

That suited Jenny; she did so enjoy being a bedwarming partner to the renowned Madame Vastra through these cold winter nights. By the time they disposed of the case's needs in Strax's capable hands, Jenny was certain she'd not be thinking of the cold for long at all.

+++++

He would never again return there, though the sound of the towers would haunt him for all the rest of his life, however long or short that was. A single night, no matter how long, could not be anything but a tease of what could have been, no matter his words to her. All things had to end, yet her own words, about time being what was shared, had connected in that part of himself he tended to wall away.

How much time could he have made for her, if he had tried harder? Or was it really as he presented it, and time had its way of running away from him?

Either way, Darillium was home to but memories now, never again to have the Doctor hear the towers sing.

+++++

Living on Gallifrey was a change for Leela, but she was adapting. Her life was more civilized, though she never let herself go soft. Adapting to the people was nearly as hard as adapting to customs, she found. Some ignored her completely, others goggled at her like she was an exhibit in a zoo, as the Doctor had once shown to her. 

Fortunately, Leela had never really cared what was thought of her. And, as an outsider, she found she had a knack for cutting to the heart of the political intrigues that followed in the wake of the Doctor's leaving this time.

Maybe that was how she found herself with a growing distrust of the man called Borusa, even before the next scandal surrounding the Doctor was even a whisper on the wind. She would just have to be crafty and careful, to learn all she could, especially on how to handle the particular power craving she could see in him.

+++++

There was a gentle whisper of need in the air, and the Doctor responded by coming to the console. She thrummed, lights glowing more brightly for that moment, as he laid hands upon the console.

Too many deaths, a thought shared between them, had led to this final choice.

She knew what he meant to do, and he was adamant that she would not be there with him. This moment, then, was meant to be the last.

Yet, when her thief set out to carry his plans to fruition, she cheated. The TARDIS gave her thief a Wolf, to help guide his actions away from total destruction.

+++++

The Doctor did not do Domestic. Flat out, did not, never ever would he get caught up in the little moments of playing house.

"Pass the potatoes," he found himself saying, still smiling from the joke Rose had made, causing Mickey to blush darkly.

"Please!" Jackie stressed to him, her features stern and motherly.

"Please," he said, just to appease her and see Rose smile wide before ducking her head to hide a chuckle.

"Alright," Jackie agreed, passing the bowl over.

The Doctor did not do domestic, but sometimes, he couldn't help himself when it came to his Companion's wishes.

+++++

There were no words, no need for them, as River saw the beginning of what was to be the final dawn of her life. Her diary was full of exploits through time and space. She had come to peace with her place in the Doctor's heart over the course of this single night.

He loved her, and she loved him, even if they had not found as much time as she might have liked. 

He was looking at her, and she just shook her head, leaning into him, feeling his arms around her. The touching came easily now, though she knew he still hated contact with others.

"Don't stay alone," she murmured.

He did not answer; it was not a promise he could make, so he just held her a little longer.

+++++

"Do you know who I am?"

Those six words came out in two voices, simultaneously. The woman raised an eyebrow opposite the one the man did, and then scowled almost in time with him as well.

"This is ridiculous! You posture more than _he_ does!" she spat out. "You are also in my way." She brought her blaster up in a clear threat, ignoring the gun in his hand.

The man reached up to stroke his beard. "That weapon was designed in Galactic Year thirty nine eighty seven." He stepped to one side. "And if you just compared me to who I believe you did, I either admire your taste or your motives."

The urbane, calculating air to the man made her purr, especially now he had stepped aside. "River Song, archaeologist. I applaud your sense in moving."

"I am the Master," he said. "Nothing on this world is worthy of my interference in your plans at this time, Miss Song."

She had looked surprised at his name, but now she just appraised him. "Well, I do suppose this means _he_ will be showing up any time now. I suppose I better finish my objective before he arrives with a lecture." 

That made the Master smile, interest growing in his jaded features. Who was this woman, and just how did she fit in the Doctor's life?

+++++

"I don't like you, you don't like me, we both are stupid where that man is concerned; can we get on with it now?" Missy demanded.

Clara made a skeptical noise, then tipped her chin (and adorable little nose, Missy thought) up defiantly. Oh she was one of the spunky ones. Had Missy known this much fun with any of the others? Well, there'd been Nursery Rhyme girl, and the Airline Stewardess. But no, they didn't quite compare to Impossible Girl.

"I am not stupid about him," she retorted, as they worked together to override the security panel.

"Whyever not?" was Missy's reply to that.

+++++

He was not as young as he once been, but he certainly wasn't 'past it', as the saying went. If he pressed for the details in his mind, he'd remember the details of how he'd come to be sharing a bed with his most delightful Companion. None of it mattered though, as she responded to his attempt to move away by _cuddling_ into his arms even more.

Maybe it was just instinct… but no, that would be her eyes open and staring up at his face, a smile etching itself on her lips.

"Not bad for being out of practice," she teased him cheekily, stinging at his pride and concept of self.

"Maybe we should practice a bit more then," he said, before kissing her, finding that his body was responding to hers without him even having to think about it.

+++++

He didn't make it to the wedding, though he did honestly wish her the best in her new life.

He also wasn't surprised when the Brigadier came in, still posh, from the event, with a bottle of wine and sandwiches of all things.

"There, old chap, do pick your chin up."

"My chin is up, Brigadier!" the Doctor said testily, but the man was already settling food in and producing glasses. "What is this?"

"A sandwich you do not need to steal out of my hands, and a bottle of wine to make the absence ease," the Brigadier told him. "We've the afternoon to ourselves, and no need to dodge your assistant."

The Doctor's eyes twinkled as that facet of losing Jo clicked into place. It might yet be a good day.

+++++


End file.
